A Christmas trip
by DanishPastriesandmore
Summary: Germany is dragged out by Prussia to have a relaxing holiday for Christmas. After the brothers fight, he gets badly injured and may need to realise its okay to depend on people. No pairings.


New Story!

I swear the sequel to My Brother is coming...

* * *

Germany grumbled as he mentally cursed Prussia for this situation. They were lost in the mountains, after Prussia insisted that he knew the way to their getaway cottage in the mountains.

"Prussia, you idiot!" he yelled at Prussia.

"Hey, West, I'm sorry, but I didn't know we were going to get lost! The maps told me we were going the right way!" he said. "If you had bought a satnav, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Prussia snapped.

"I don't need a satnav to get around my own country" he said. "You _said_ you knew the way."

"Well, sorry, we must have taken a wrong turn."

Germany felt like responding, but instead looked at the maps. They had driven around mountainous roads for nearly an hour. He could make little sense of the map without any bearings on where he is, but decided to drive back down the mountain until they reached the main road. Then restart the journey.

This was not going to be a relaxing holiday.

* * *

Really, he didn't know why he agreed to Prussia's suggestion.

It was nearly Christmas, and Prussia had suggested a holiday together, in the mountains, to have some peace and quiet. Germany had reluctantly agreed, but couldn't help but feel that the excursion would be more trouble than it worth and that he could be spending his time better doing work. Though he knew that was his brother was dragging him out here.

They eventually reached the small cottage, hours late and on the brink of night. It was freezing out, and Germany hurriedly threw his bags inside the cottage.

"Thank goodness." He said once they entered the cottage. It wasn't warm, due to no central heating, but the log fire would soon warm the place up. Germany set about lighting it, and started putting the logs on the fire, when Prussia strode in.

"Hey, its not so bad, I chose well, If I say so." Prussia smiled.

Germany shrugged and tried not to show his true irritation at the terrible journey.

"Tomorrow, let's drive to the village and relax. Then at some point we can drive to town and go to the Christmas market, we haven't been to one of those in ages." Prussia said cheerily. Germany let himself relax a bit, it _was _Christmas after all, and Prussia was trying to be nice with booking this cottage and everything.

It didn't last long.

* * *

"So you forgot the pots and pans. Fantastic, I can't wait to eat raw chicken and cold vegetables tonight." Germany snapped as he looked at the food they had bought.

"I'm sorry, I had them in a bag and forgot to load them. Sheesh, you're acting like this is the end of the world. WE'LL just eat out the other nights."

"And what are we going to eat now?" he snapped.

"Sandwiches, duh" Gilbert laughed. "You're getting way too worked up about this. It's like if nothing goes according to plan, it's a failure."

Germany scowled at that comment. It only seemed like that because Prussia himself never made any plans. He just went with things. Germany was astounded that he even had the sense to let Prussia organise the trip and the packing…

"You said this was supposed to be relaxing, and I find plans relaxing." He said.

Prussia shrugged. "Whatever. Now lets just chill and watch TV, or something." He said.

"No, I have work to do."

Prussia looked up surprised at him. "What?! This is a getaway from work, not an excuse to do it!"

Germany shrugged. "I need to get it out of the way now for the rest of the holiday." He said.

Prussia rolled his eyes. "I really doubt the work the government gives you is _that_ important during _Christmas_ that you have to do it now."

Germany narrowed his eyes. "I would like to do it now." He began to take out his work out of the backpack he had put it in.

Prussia grabbed his hand. "No way, don't do it now."

"Get off, Prussia, let me do it!"

"I'm serious! Just relax! You don't need to do it now!"

"Yes, I do, and don't act like you know anything about work!" he snapped at his brother.

Prussia flinched, and hardened. "I _do_ work, but you always complain it's not up to standard."

"Because you leave it to the last minute and are unprepared for meetings and shirk your responsibilities!" he snapped. He couldn't believe Prussia was trying to make it out like he knew about Germany's work load.

"Whatever, you always tell me what to do anyway so there's little point? It's not like I have any say in this country of yours."

Germanys gaze grew colder. "You could share the work if you wanted. But you wouldn't."

Prussia shook his head. "This isn't my country."

"It's both ours."

"Both Prussia or East Germany have no influence in this country; and you know it."

Germany pushed his hands through his hair. He didn't know what to say to this. What did he want? An apology? For the way the country ended up? But most of all he couldn't believe Prussia wanted to talk about this now. "Just let me do my work."

Prussia shook his head. "Fuck you."

He poured coffee onto the documents.

"Prussia, you _idiot!"_ he shouted.

"Oh boohoo, your work is ruined. It's not like you can print them off when we get back. Oh wait." Prussia snarled.

Germany had reached for his coat and scarf. "I'm going for a walk."

"Hope it's relaxing. And fine, don't eat your fucking sandwich." Prussia spat.

* * *

Germany trudged through the woods on the path. "Fucking Prussia" he grumbled as he walked. He didn't know where he was walking, but anywhere was better than there.

Germany tried to push away the feelings of guilt about Prussia, knowing that Prussia had meant well with this damn holiday, but he couldn't help but feel that Prussia didn't get it. He didn't get that Germany was constantly under pressure to do well, be the model nation, lead meetings, and lead Europe. He didn't have time for having fun, at least not without a compromise for work.

He needed to make sure he didn't mess up. _Not again._

Germany continued walking, feeling his anger die down. It was relaxing, he supposed, going for a walk in the countryside, away from the stress of life in the city. He stopped on the path, and looked around. Despite it being dark and the freezing temperatures; he could tell it was beautiful, the mountains. _His_ mountains.

Maybe Prussia had a point. He hadn't spent any time in his country that wasn't doing paperwork in houses or offices in his various large cities. How well could he represent his nation if he spent all his time in the country looking at paper? He knew Prussia had a point with this damn holiday.

"Shit" Germany grumbled. He knew he had to turn back and actually talk with Prussia. Now that he had calmed down, his head was clearer.

Or maybe it was the freezing temperatures forcing him to return home. It was nearly nine O'clock as well, and it was clearly dangerous to go any further when he could barely see.

He turned around on the path, and began walking back along the woodland trail, when suddenly he felt his foot get caught in a root and he went flying, and started rolling down the ridge that the path was on. He attempted to grab the ground to stop his descent, but he smacked his head on a rock, _extremely hard, _and blacked out.

* * *

He awoke at the foot of some trees, at least 10 metres away from the path uphill.

The trees must've stopped his fall. He clutched his head, it was in severe pain, and his eyesight was fuzzy from the head injury. He could feel blood on his head. He needed to get back on the path. He attempted to stand up, but his right leg immediately gave way. His ankle was definitely broken. From the stress of trying to get up, and his head dizzy, he threw up onto the ground in front of him.

He wiped his mouth, feeling absolutely terrible.

He reached for his phone, knowing he had to call Prussia, and was dismayed, but not surprised, when he saw he had no service. It was 9:10 now, which meant he had been unconscious out for at least ten minutes.

He knew he had been walking for at least twenty minutes. That meant he was probably only gone for over half an hour, which wasn't enough for Prussia to worry about him.

If he was going to get home, he was going to have to make his own way back. And he needed to, soon, as he was sure the cold would kill him otherwise.

He felt around, and found a fallen branch that could be used as a crutch. Struggling, he pulled himself up on it, and though he felt like fainting, he knew he needed to get back home. He shakily walked a few steps and seemed to be getting the hang of things. When he got home, hopefully Prussia wouldn't be too mad and would just let their previous argument slide. However, every step was agony, and he was feeling exhausted from the pain and the cold, and he seemed to be making no progress of getting onto the path, only going sideways along the hill.

The branch eventually broke under his weight, and the fell to the ground with a thud, and aggravated his ankle more. He was exhausted, and in too much pain to carry on. He was immortal, he wouldn't die from this… permanently. But he didn't want to die, then wait however many months in a coma recovering. He didn't want this. He didn't want to be laying in pain on a muddy verge, feeling sick and dying of hypothermia. What a pathetic death. The other nations would fret at first, then laugh about it in the future. Seriously, he was _Germany_, he had dealt with far worse. Had he gone soft so that he couldn't deal with a broken ankle in the cold? Perhaps it wasn't a bad thing, going soft, but now was not the time to be defeated.

He shuddered, and wondered how long this would take. He wondered when Prussia would look for him. Tonight? Tomorrow morning? He hoped Prussia didn't think he left and went to the village. God, their argument was stupid, and now he was going to have to wait months until he could apologise.

He huddled and waited for his inevitable death.

* * *

Prussia dried the coffee soaked paper over the fire. He was looking at the sheets, and his suspicions were confirmed: even he knew this wasn't important. Why did Germany have such a stick up his arse? Why did he have to be so serious all the time, even during the holidays?

Prussia wanted to strangle his little brother sometimes. He had just tried to do something nice! He had seen his brother asleep at his desk one too many times, and a few days ago, nearing Christmas, was the last straw.

Maybe he didn't take the work seriously enough. Maybe he should've made plans a bit better, and thought through the holiday a bit better, and not just decided he knew where he was going from one look at the map and didn't check to see if they'd pack everything. Maybe he should make plans more.

But he sure as knew Germany was overreacting.

He sighed. It had been over an hour. Maybe he should go and find Germany and apologise. He hoped his brother felt as stupid as he did for overreacting at such trivial matters. Prussia would be awesome and start the apologies. Then Germany would apologise and then they'd sit by the fire drinking beer, like he had hoped for originally.

Great plan. He grabbed his coat, and walked out the door.

He was immediately struck by how cold it was. _Shit_. _How was West still out in this? _He thought. He felt a little guilty, maybe Germany felt he couldn't return to the cottage? No, that was absurd, Germany wouldn't care that much about feelings. Feeling a little worried, Prussia went back inside and grabbed his torch as well.

Prussia walked down the path, torch in front of him. The woods were nice along the mountain, but it was way too dark to appreciate this.

"West? Germany, where are you, I'm sorry!" he called. "Its way too cold for this! I'm freezing my awesome butt off!" he shouted. He swore that he saw Germany go this way when he looked out of the window after the fight, but perhaps not. Maybe he had gone to the village? Or maybe he was returning to the cottage. Prussia theorised that looking for Germany might not be a fantastic idea.

He felt something cold hit his face. Snow. Brilliant.

He continued down the path, and almost tripped over a root if not for his torch lighting the way.

He noticed that soil seemed displaced, and followed the trail with his torch down the hill. As he shone it, he noticed that down the hill and to the right, the direction he walked in, there was a black mound on the floor. He wondered if it was a rock, but then he saw a flash of gold, which looked like hair…

"West?" he called, and rand down the hill, checking to see if it was a body. It was. It was Germany.

"WEST! Germany! Whats wrong!" he shouted, and cradled the body. It was freezing. There was no way this was natural.

"Shit, West, what happened?" he said. He got no response, and he felt the chest.

There was a heartbeat. Faint and slow, but it was there.

"Please wake up Germany!" he shouted to his brother, and hugged his brother tighter, hoping to warm him up. He grabbed his torch and shone it in his brother's face.

He was taken aback by the blueness of his lips, the paleness of his face, and was that _blood_ on his head?

He began to pull Germany to his feet. He needed to get him home. He needed to get him warm. Germany was immortal, but he really didn't want West to die and leave him. Death and recovery was a very painful process for nations, and both of them knew that.

He heaved Germany onto his feet, so he was leaning on Prussia's back with his arms wrapped around his neck. Prussia took the weight and began dragging Germany.

Germany immediately groaned, and it sounded pained.

"Shit, Germany, are you okay?" he asked.

Germany didn't respond, or it seemed that he couldn't. Prussia tried shaking him again. "Germany, stay with me, come on, I don't think that I'd appreciate being you for a while."

Germany groaned. "F-foot" he slurred out with difficulty. Prussia laid Germany onto the ground again. He looked at his right foot and sure that it looked horribly twisted within Germany's boot.

"Shit, Germany, sorry I didn't notice." He said, and hurriedly tried to remember first aid skills. He knew that it was best if he left in the boot, so he did, and decided that nothing could be done without brining Germany home first.

"Germany, I'll carry you, don't worry." He said. He wasn't strong like Germany though, and Germany was far taller and heavier than Prussia. But Prussia knew he had to find a way to transport Germany home without hurting his foot more.

So Prussia grasped Germany's right leg and pulled his arms around his neck again, and set off.

The twenty minute walk was taking nearly 40, and Germany was ice cold. Prussia too was freezing, and could feel each step getting more sluggish, but he had to get to the cottage. He had to save his brother.

So when he finally reached the cottage door, he sighed in relief.

The heating was luckily on, but he dragged Germany to the fireplace where the fire was dying. Prussia stoked it further and tried to warm his hands up. He placed a pillow under Germany's head, and one under Germany's foot, and gathered a duvet to place over Germany.

"Hey bro, warm up now, and get better, please?" he said, his voice cracking as he tried to act confident.

Germany tried to murmur something.

"You don't need to talk. Just get warm. Please."

Germany nodded, and seemed to doze off. Whilst Germany dozed, Prussia cleaned Germany's head wound. It was quite large and deep, and Prussia realised that Germany should really be in a hospital, for his head and his foot. But he couldn't call an ambulance since there was no landline and the mobile service was bad. He could drive to the village, but that would mean leaving Germany alone, so he decided to leave it until Germany was warm enough.

Germany began to stir, after fifteen minutes. "P-prussia." He stammered.

Prussia hushed Germany, but he seemed intent to talk. "S-s-sorry" he said.

Prussia nodded. "I'm sorry too. And I think you're well enough to be taken to the hospital."

Despite Germany's state, Prussia could tell Germany gave a look of not looking pleased.

"I know you're a nation, but if you want to recover in the least amount of pain, you're going to the hospital." Damn, Prussia felt especially big-brotherly today. "I'll warm up the car." He said.

* * *

Germany felt fucking awful, but at least he knew he wasn't going to die.

He had a glance in the rear-view mirror, and hated the bags under his eyes, the blueness of his lips, and how sick he looked. He was struggling to concentrate and bright lights hurt his eyes. And his foot had a constant, painful throb.

He was thankful that Prussia seemed to lay off the teasing for once though. Prussia was driving through the village, to the nearest hospital, and glanced over to Germany.

"You alright?" he asked.

Germany nodded. He wasn't, but there wasn't any change.

Prussia looked pensive. "You really worried me. I thought you were going to die for sure." Prussia admitted, and Germany felt his heart clench.

Germany cleared his throat. "Sorry. I feel stupid. Thank You" he rasped.

"Have some more water." Prussia handed Germany the bottle and Germany drank from it. "What happened, anyway?"

"I tripped on a root, and hit my head on the way down the hill. I was knocked unconscious and couldn't get up the hill. It was so cold." He said.

Prussia nodded. "You tripped on a _root_? I would be giving you so much shit right now if I wasn't so damn worried."

Germany fiddled with the blanket. "Sorry." He hated making people worried about _himself_ of all people.

"Don't apologise, man. Please." Prussia said.

The rest of the journey was in silence.

* * *

"Well your brother still has very mild hypothermia. If what you said was true, then we can deduce that he's been recovering from severe hypothermia. He's very lucky to be alive. He has healed remarkably well for someone in his condition, but you must've reached him just in time." The doctor told Prussia, outside Germany's hospital room. "His foot has been set and his head cleaned, stitched and bandaged. We'll keep him in for the rest of the night, but he'll probably be fine to leave tomorrow morning. He's being prescribed pain killers." Prussia nodded. "You can say goodbye to him, but we must insist you find somewhere else to sleep for tonight."

Prussia nodded, feeling extremely tired. He walked into Germany's room, and looked at the dozing figure. He seemed exhausted.

Germany smiled slightly when he saw him come in. "I can't believe you're leaving me in a hospital." He groaned.

Prussia laughed. "Hey, it's important for nations to spend at least one night in the hospital every now and then. See how things go. I spent one night for that broken arm, remember."

Germany smiled. "Yes, don't remind me. I don't know why you thought sledging down the roof would end well…"

"Yeah, it wasn't my most awesome plan ever." He laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Germany nodded. "I'll see you then."

* * *

The next morning was tense. Germany had received a 'concerned earful' from his boss, who seemed annoyed at Germany's stupidity at almost getting himself killed _walking_ and genuinely concerned about his well-being. Germany appreciated it, in the end.

Prussia laughed when Germany put down the phone. "Ah man, glad not to be in your position." He cackled.

Germany glared at Prussia.

Prussia was busy packing away their things. With Germany on crutches, even if only for a few days, it would be silly to stay in the mountains. They decided to go in town, to at least enjoy the markets, and Germany acknowledged that Prussia was more dead set on a _relaxing_ week away more than ever.

"Hey, Germany, about what I said, and you said. I mean, I love Germany, and this is my country, but it is more yours. But you're right, I need to put more effort into things and think things through better. And you need to stop getting so stressed when things go wrong, and you need to take better care of yourself. I'm sick of seeing you wake up all ached because you fell asleep at your desk again."

Germany listened to Prussia's words, then nodded. "I'm sorry, you're right. I… need some time to myself more. I need some time that isn't looking at paper. I need some time to just hang out with you, and Italy and Austria _and_ anyone else _but_ paper. I just…" he paused. He wasn't sure if opening up was the right thing. He didn't want to concern Prussia more than he already was.

But Prussia looked on keenly. "'just' what west?"

Germany sighed. "I just, feel that, I have to try really hard, to be a great nation, a good leader. I shouldn't make mistakes. I _can't_ make mistakes, not again" he finished.

"What? Mistakes? I don't understand." Prussia looked in confusion, then he realised. "Oh, West." He said, voice uncharacteristically soft. "You don't have to shoulder the past alone." He said.

Germany nodded. "Ok." He really didn't want to talk about it.

"I mean it." Prussia said. "It's my past too. I will help you out more, and we're going to negotiate your workload, because I'm sure they just give you that much because you do always do it without question."

Germany smiled slightly, and Prussia hugged him, before they went to their car. "Merry Christmas, Germany." He said.

Germany nodded. "Merry Christmas."

* * *

My story! Get it? A Christmas _trip_? hahahaha no (my unimaginative titles strike again.)

Yeah so I've been reading a lot of Germany/Prussia brotherly love fanfictions and I wanted to write one. Sorry, my brother sequel... (its coming along, I swear.)


End file.
